Cut up yam and squash into roughly 2 inch sized pieces – this speeds up the cooking time. Boil them in water. Mash them with potato masher.

Cook kale by dunking it in almost boiling water. All you want to do is soften the kale but not totally cook it. I wait for it to get soft and turn bright greet.

STEP 2: Mix

In a large bowl, mix the ground pork, mashed yams and butternut squash, and kale

That’s it. The food is done.

I typically store them in small to medium containers and I freeze them. Only leaving out one container at a time in the fridge.

When I feed the dogs … I add some organic pasta to their bowls. No more than 30% of the total. I do have a small scale at home which makes it pretty easy to do.

Basic ‘rough’ guideline I followed on this was 40% carbs, 30% grain (which could be rice, oats, or pasta).

Calcium: No homemade diet is complete without calcium. This would be at the very top of my list. A crash course on calcium can be visited by following this LINK.

I used to buy my calcium on Amazon but the last time I tried to do that they were sold out. So I started to make it at home. Since I eat eggs regularly – this was easy for me to transition to. Basically you save all your eggshells. I try to save 2 dozen at a time. I wash them first after I have cracked open the egg and store it in a container on my countertop.

When I’m ready to make the calcium for the dogs, I take the eggshells, put them on a tray and into the oven at 350 degrees for 5 minutes. After they have cooled I grind them with a pestle and grinder I picked up from TJMaXX and store it in a glass container.

I add 1/4 teaspoon with each meal for each of the dogs.

Multivitamin: I add a good balanced Multivitamin – also available from Amazon. The brand I use is from Animal Essentials and you can find the link on the right.

Collagen: This is a new one for us. We used to make bone broth at home. But I don’t own a crock pot. So I would typically make it from bones and cook it over low fire for a total of 24 hours over a time span of 2 days. Obviously this takes up a lot of time. Luckily for us we just learned of a new product from Custom Collagen. They’re who we show in the photos in this post with Maggie and Orbit. You can learn more about their product on their website directly by visiting this LINK.

Minerals: This supplement isn’t as critical as the first two – but I like to add it. Also from Amazon and made by Animal Essentials.

Probiotics: I used to add a probiotics but I recently stopped using this. I read an article that it can promote yeast growth in dogs … and Orbit has been super yeasty as of late. So I’ve decided to stop adding this to their diet. Instead I give them raw fermented goats milk which I purchase from the local dog store.

RESOURCES

Two books I recommend are:

Feed your Best Friend Better by Rick Woodford. His book is easy to read. And his recipes are easy to incorporate into your normal routine. After reading this all the intimidation in cooking for my dogs went away. Easily my favorite go to book.

Dr. Pitcairn’s Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats. Fantastic holistic guide that covers dog wellness from A to Z. Has a chapter or two on nutrition but everything else you will learn in there will only expand your understanding in dog wellness.

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